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Guide · Updated 2026-10-20

How to choose an SEO or web agency in New Mexico

Questions to ask, price ranges to expect, and red flags to walk away from, whether you hire us or someone else.

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Rip Ryness

Author of the guides on this site. No photo has been published yet.

Start with what an agent sees, not what a portfolio shows

Ask every agency you interview the same test: "Ask ChatGPT or Google AI Mode for the best agency for a business like mine in my town, and show me what it says about you." An agency selling AI visibility should be able to run that prompt with you, show you the answer, and explain exactly which of its pages, listings, and prices produced it.

Then check the basics yourself. Their own prices, hours, and service area should be readable as plain text on their site, their business facts should agree on Google, Yelp, and Apple, and their site should load fast on your phone. If they haven't done this for themselves, they can't do it for you.

Price ranges to expect in New Mexico

Prices vary, but you should never have to book a sales call to learn the shape of them. Our own published prices are a useful yardstick, before New Mexico gross receipts tax: Found $349/mo, Picked $749/mo, and Booked $1,449/mo, with annual prepaid in full (two months free). Launch Sprint is $695 to migrate a site you have, or $995 for a new site, paid at checkout on monthly plans, with no credit back, and waived only when annual is prepaid in full.

Whatever you pay, get the terms in writing before you start: minimum term, cancellation notice, and what you keep if you leave. The No-Hostage Guarantee: If you leave, you keep your ad accounts, because you own them, and you get an export of your website that you can use with another provider, and your data. Agent features end.

  • Written quote before work starts, with what is included and what is not
  • Minimum term and cancellation notice in plain language
  • Who owns the site, the domain, the listings, and the content
  • What happens to your site and files if you cancel

Questions that separate real work from a pitch

Ask how they measure AI visibility. A credible answer names a repeated method: a panel of 15–30 prompts about your trade and area, run 3–5 times each across several assistants, tracking whether you're named, which competitors are named, which sources get cited, and whether any facts about you are wrong. "We checked ChatGPT once" is not measurement, because the same prompt gives different answers from run to run.

Ask which sources the assistants cite for businesses like yours, and how the agency earns a place on them: directories, review sites, local press, "best of" lists, and licensing records. Ask to see a report from an existing engagement, with the client's permission, before you sign.

  • "Show me what AI assistants say about your agency today."
  • "Which sources do assistants cite for my trade in my area?"
  • "How do you measure AI visibility, and how often?"
  • "Will you publish my prices, and why or why not?"
  • "What do I keep if I leave?"

Red flags to walk away from

Guaranteed rankings, guaranteed AI recommendations, or a guaranteed number of leads. Nobody controls Google or ChatGPT, and anyone who promises their output is selling you the promise, not the work. The same goes for offers to sell you reviews, gate unhappy customers away from review sites, stuff keywords into your business name, or spin up dozens of near-identical pages for every neighborhood in town. Each of those breaks a Google rule or a federal one, and the risk lands on your business, not theirs.

Also walk away from an agency that won't publish any prices, won't show you a report format, or will own your domain, website, or listings in their name. You should be able to leave with an export of your website that you can use with another provider, and your data, and you should keep your ad accounts, because you own them.

Email me the checklist

The New Mexico Business Owner's Guide to Choosing an SEO or Web Agency (and the 5 Red Flags)

A checklist of the questions, the price yardstick, the terms, and the red flags from the guide on this site.

The page stays open. We email the PDF after you confirm a link from contact@abqaimarketing.com. We do not send it before that confirmation. Unsubscribe any time.

Questions

Should an agency publish its prices?

Yes, at least starting prices and terms. Published prices are also what an AI agent needs to compare and recommend any business, including an agency. An agency that hides its own prices while telling you to publish yours isn't practicing what it sells.

How should I judge whether SEO or agentic SEO is working?

Judge it by repeated measurements, not by a promise that a ranking will appear by a certain time. We re-run the prompt panel and send a plain report of what the assistants said. Nobody controls when an assistant changes its answer.